Mississippi River flood evacuee Joann Parks said she left Tuesday’s communitywide flood recovery meeting with needed information to help rebuild her home in Kings.

“I’ve never had to move out of my home because of a flood in the 45 years I’ve been there,” said Parks, a retiree of the Vicksburg Police Department who is renting a house on Gibson Road while away from her home on Curry Street. “A lot of people are dumbfounded because they don’t know what direction to go and they don’t know who to talk to.”

Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration, Office of the State Auditor, Office of the State Attorney General and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were at the meeting hosted by the City of Vicksburg to offer information on flood recovery.

Questions from some of the about 300 who attended were answered in the two-hour meeting’s final 25 minutes. Warren County Emergency Management has said 3,202 Warren County residents have been displaced by flooding from the Mississippi River, which topped flood stage of 43 feet at Vicksburg on May 1 and rose steadily until cresting at 57.1 feet on May 19.

The main tip Tuesday night from FEMA was to register to receive assistance for the flood, which had been declared a disaster by President Barack Obama on May 11.

July 11 is the deadline to register by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by visiting www.fema.gov.

“We will slowly trickle away as time moves on,” FEMA community relations specialist Ernest Jones said.

So far, $538,868 in federal FEMA funds has been distributed to some of the 2,700 affected by Mississippi River flooding who have registered for financial assistance in 14 counties, a press release by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

Parks, who has applied for FEMA assistance, said she plans to go home and repair it as soon as the water goes away.

First, however, she and others must apply for a building permit with the city’s Building and Planning Department, Buildings and Inspections Director Victor Gray-Lewis said Tuesday night.

At that point, a permit technician will determine if a home or business is in the designated 1 percent Special Hazard Flood Area adopted by the city, which requires inspections, Gray-Lewis said.

He said a city building permit is not required, however, to remove damaged dry wall, so the cleanup can begin.

“If you’re dealing with a flood, the first thing you deal with is the Sheetrock because you want the building to dry out,” he said. “You don’t have to take it all out. Just take out what’s been damaged.”

A permit is available at the building and planning office, 819 South St., or call 601-634-4528.

Maps showing special flood hazard areas in the city may be viewed at the South Street office.

An inspection also is required for any property that was under-water before any utilities can be released, Gray-Lewis said.

A licensed electrician will need to check all electrical systems and a licensed plumber must purge and test the gas piping system before the gas may be turned back on, Gray-Lewis said.

A temporary power pole could be used during the reconstruction phase if the electrical system fails the inspection, he added.

Structures found to be damaged by 50 percent or more must comply with the city’s flood plain damage prevention ordinance, he said. That is when a property owner can decide to move out of the flood area, elevate the structure 2 feet past the base flood elevation or demolish the structure.

In Warren County, the Board of Supervisors is suggesting obtaining a building permit through the Warren County Permit Office for repairs of more than $500 to a residential or commercial property. The county permit office is in the basement of the Warren County Courthouse on Grove Street.

Meanwhile, as water slowly recedes, city and county law enforcement authorities will continue to patrol all flooded areas.

“For areas at Eagle Lake and Redwood, we have deputies who have been pre-deployed to patrol those areas,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. “For flooded areas — LeTourneau Road, Cedars, Kings, Waltersville — the sheriff’s office is patrolling the areas not accessible by vehicle.”